At midday, on Saturday 17th September, Raymarine UK, leading marine electronics manufacturer, will announce the winner of a special competition held in support of National Historic Ships, the official voice for historic vessels in the UK. Raymarine UK has donated over £4000-worth of prizes for the competition, which has helped to promote the use of electronic navigational equipment to increase safety at sea.

Entries to the competition have been received from owners of craft on the National Register of Historic Vessels. To be in with a chance of winning, entrants had to propose a worthy story of why their vessel is most in need of Raymarine’s state-of-the-art electronic equipment. The prizes on offer include an electronic chartplotter (C120W), and an AIS 500 (Automatic Identification System), which helps identify vessels and reduce danger of collisions at sea by displaying course, bearing and heading of vessels within a certain area.

Entrants can give an account of a real-life experience whereby having marine electronics onboard would have greatly helped, or a bid for upgraded equipment which will enable the vessel to undertake more ambitious voyages in future.

Sarah Brooke, Raymarine UK Sales & Marketing Executive, says; “Raymarine is very pleased to be supporting National Historic Ships, which represents a worthwhile cause. It is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the preservation of British maritime history, and to raise awareness of how today’s marine electronics can contribute to safety at sea; Raymarine’s range of marine electronics can be retrofitted to any vessel, regardless of age.”

National Historic Ships was established in 2006 as a non-departmental public body reporting to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport with a specific remit to advise the Secretary of State and other public bodies on ship preservation and funding priorities.